Open for business

With 80 per cent of Victoria expected to be fully vaccinated this week (16+ years), it’s time to start thinking about what this might mean for pharmacies and locums alike as we open for business.

For pharmacies, an ease of restrictions across the state might mean:

  • Returning to regular staff rostering 
  • Preparing for locum staff, particularly in the event a staff member is unwell, needs time off for COVID testing, or requires flexibility 
  • Planning for communication to your staff and customers 
  • Designing your pharmacy customer experience in terms of store layout, check-in instructions or vaccination certificate checks 

For locum pharmacists, an ease of restrictions might mean:

  • More opportunities for locum work as pharmacies fill vacancies, increase staff to meet in-person demand, and build strong rostering and back-up plans 
  • The ability to fill locum shifts in multiple locations as state-wide restrictions ease 
  • The ability to travel further for work as lockdowns and travel restrictions are lifted

Locumate can help both pharmacies and locums as COVID-19 restrictions ease across Victoria. Find out more at: https://locumate.com.au/ 

Refresh your dispensing skills with Fred

Fred IT Group is Australia’s largest dedicated IT solution provider to the pharmacy industry with over 3,000 pharmacies using our dispensing solutions Fred Dispense Plus, Fred Dispense and Fred NXT Dispense. Fred offer a complete suite of solutions and services tailored for community pharmacy and enterprise pharmacy groups including POS and office management, hardware, server and network monitoring and maintenance, backup and recovery, and cyber protection.

 

Fred’s online help centres provide short tutorials and resources, shortcuts and tips, accessible anywhere, anytime, and on any device. If you are looking to extend your product knowledge of the Fred dispensing solutions or perhaps want to make your day to day duties more efficient – this is just for you!

Learn how to

  • Dispense paper and electronic prescriptions
  • Dispense a new script and defer a script
  • Update external Safety Net totals and link family members
  • Complete the End of Year process

 

Got a question about a Fred application? Find answers quickly and easily, online

 

Our Fred’s online help centres can provide answers to your questions about Fred solutions 24/7.

Visit fred.com.au/support

How Locumate Works

Whether you’re a pharmacy looking for staff or a locum wanting work, Locumate is Australia’s number one locum marketplace. You will want to know how Locumate works. We’re transforming the locum recruitment experience by offering a smarter way for pharmacies and locums to connect. Visit the AppStore or Google Playstore to download Locumate.

Here’s how it works:

Pharmacies:

  • Create a free account and answer a number of quick questions about your pharmacy, e.g. number of scripts being dispensed, what software you use, and whether you provide pharmacotherapy.
  • Create a new job whenever you need a locum. All your details are saved so you don’t need to enter your pharmacy information each time.
  • Once a locum accepts a shift, view their profile and communicate directly for a smooth arrival and transition to the job.
  • Know exactly how much a locum charges upfront
  • Leave a review and feedback to empower locums to do the job well
  • Approve shifts and finalise payment with the click of a button

Locums:

  • Create a free profile and share your availability and rates
  • Browse and get notified of jobs that best fit your preferences and profile
  • Understand what software a pharmacy uses, how many scripts are dispensed and if you’re required to provide pharmacotherapy, all before you accept a shift
  • Accept a shift and communicate with the pharmacy directly.
  • View your schedule in a simple calendar
  • Provide feedback to pharmacies
  • Submit invoices and get paid on time, with no more complications about invoicing, GST summaries and other sole trader frustrations

We know that by equipping both pharmacies and locums with the right technology, we’re making the locum experience simple, straightforward and empowering for everyone involved.

We’re live: Locumate has launched!

Kavita Nadan – Locumate Co-Founder

 

I’ve spent the last couple of years imagining, designing, building and testing the idea of a platform for pharmacies and locums to connect directly. I’ve spent an equal amount of time reimagining, redesigning, rebuilding, and retesting everything we thought we knew. So today, it brings me great joy to announce the launch of Locumate! 

The launch is a phased roll out across Victoria, with the rest of Australia to follow. As a pharmacist, I’ve had first-hand experience on both sides of our platform; as a bright-eyed bushy tailed pharmacy graduate looking for work, and as a pharmacy manager, desperately wrangling last-minute locum shifts through agencies I had no control or oversight of. 

It’s this experience that led to the genesis of Locumate. The feeling that there just had to be a better way, for everyone involved. A way to give pharmacies control of asking for what they need, simplicity in a booking process, and transparency in who they work with and what they’ll be charged. Equally for locums, we wanted a way to choose where and when they’d like to work, clarity over how much they’ll be paid before taking a job, and a seamless way to get paid and view their shifts.

As we forged ahead with this project, it dawned on us that we weren’t alone thinking that there had to be a solution. I’ve always valued innovation, building, failing and learning quickly. But the best way to innovate and to learn is to put your product in the hands of your customers, and to involve them in every step of the way. So we did. A group of pharmacies and locums have been trialling Locumate, and have shared what they think:

“All I’ve done so far is set it up and approve a couple of time sheets. That was all easy. I got an email saying that there were submitted timesheets and to please action, which I was able to do easily. I’d recommend it, we use a lot of locums here. So far so good!” – J.,Pharmacy Manager.  

“Locumate has got a lot of merit, I can’t see much fault at all. I like the way it tells you in advance when your shifts are. I like it very very much. I think it’s a very clever step forward in the right direction.” – A., locum. 

I’m incredibly proud to launch Locumate today, but I’m more excited for what’s ahead. I’m passionate about building an empowered community of pharmacies and locums, and I think this starts by giving our community choices that they’ve never had before. This includes the ability to make decisions over how they’d like to work, develop and learn together, plus a digital solution to bring it all together.  

We know that there’s a better way, and we’d love for you to come on the journey with us. This is just the beginning. 

Kavi